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| Our National Insecurity By Antonio C. Abaya Written Sept. 27, 2005 For the Standard Today, September 29 issue The nature of our national insecurity is not that another country wants to invade us. Any country that had the bad judgment to assume the burden of feeding, clothing, housing, educating and finding jobs for 85 million quarrelsome Filipinos would be committing national suicide. The nature of our national insecurity is precisely that our national leaders, especially since Ferdinand Marcos, have failed to feed, clothe, house, educate and create jobs for our rapidly growing population. And, more importantly, they have failed to conceptualize and articulate for us a national purpose, a consciousness of a shared destiny, that can inspire us � rich, poor and middle class - to outdo ourselves above and beyond the daily toil for individual survival. In my article �Why Are We Poor?� (Dec. 14, 2004), I have tried to summarize in chronological sequence the series of economic missteps and wrong choices in economic strategies that have caused us to fall into the rut from which we have been trying, with only limited success, to extricate ourselves. In my articles �No Soul� (May 29, 2003), �No Brains Either� (June 05, 2003), and �And No Real Choices,� (June 12, 2003), I have tried to explain why Filipinos, unique among the people in this part of the world, have such a weak sense of nationhood. It is my contention that, without a strong sense of nationhood, we will find it difficult to overcome our many debilitating problems. By �sense of nationhood� I do not mean a xenophobic nationalism that feeds on the hatred for and mistrust of foreigners for sins, real or imagined, committed against us or against some of us. I mean a love of country that transcends love of self, or love of family, or love of tribe, a common enough sentiment in most societies, but which is glaringly weak in ours. When President Arroyo calls for �national unity,� she really means, �Let us unite and forget all about Garci and move on to solve our problems.� But �Garci� is the personal embodiment of some of our worst problems (corruption, electoral fraud on a massive scale, and unabashed lying by our national leaders) and should not be forgotten. When Imelda Marcos laments the absence of unity, she really means, �Why aren�t people demonstrating in the streets so that I can keep my jewelry?� When Erap and his lackeys organize a Unity for Truth and Justice coalition, he really means, �Get me out of here so that I can resume my sybaritic life of daily fornication, nightly intoxication and non-stop gambling fixation.� In this essay, I would like to dwell on our concept of national security because it would have some bearing on who we think threaten or strengthen, jeopardize or energize our national existence. It would also have a bearing on our ability, or inability, to develop a strong sense of nationhood. In the first decade of the 21st century, we do not face any threat of invasion from another country. China may theoretically be the next strategic enemy of the United States, but there is no reason to believe that it is or will be also our next strategic enemy. China has in recent decades fought border wars with India and the Soviet Union; sent �volunteers� to Korea in 1950-51 when Gen. Douglas McArthur�s victorious armies reached the Yalu River border; and tried to �teach a lesson� to the uppity Vietnamese in 1978 but wound up learning a few lessons in humility themselves from them. The only country that suffered an invasion by the Chinese was Tibet in 1951. But, with all due respect to the Tibetans, this was not anywhere near the scale of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979-89, or the American invasion of Iraq in 2003-0?. In the 21st century, it is almost inconceivable that China will invade another country, except possibly Taiwan, which it considers a renegade province, not another country. China may instead exert economic pressure or dangle economic concessions to its neighbors (such as access to its enormous domestic market) in order to achieve its geopolitical goals. Its agreement with the Philippines for the joint exploration for oil in the Spratlys, instead of overpowering the puny Philippine garrison there with its military might, is a case in point. The only real external threat to the national security of this country would be the expressed intention of the Jemaah Islamiyah to create a pan-Islamic state in the region that will include parts of southern Philippines. But this will not be in the form of an invasion but rather of a prolonged war of attrition using local converts to its militant brand of Islam and capitalizing on the centuries-old grievances of the Muslim community against colonial rule from Imperial Manila. The Philippine military is not properly equipped, trained or motivated to fight such a prolonged war, as it would be goaded to if Joseph Estrada were restored to the presidency by the Americans. Even with increased US military aid, the AFP would not be able to provide adequate protection to the civilian population, especially if the Muslims were to retaliate by bringing the war to Metro Manila. For all their military might, the Americans have not been able to stop or curb the daily carnage in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. The biggest threat to our national security in the here and now is poor governance by the national leadership. Poor governance is a catch-all phrase that includes all the failures of the national leaders going all the way back to Ferdinand Marcos. Failure to reduce the population growth rate fast enough. Failure to collect adequate taxes, compelling government after government to borrow more and more from international creditors, thus progressively weakening the national currency. Failure to enforce laws, consistently and equitably, in private and public life. Failure to join the export boom in the 70s and 80s and failure to ride the tourism boom in the 90s, thus causing us to fall further and further behind our more aggressive neighbors. Failure to curb corruption, which is a function of the failure to enforce its own laws consistently and equitably. Failure to create enough jobs in the domestic economy, which is a function of the failure to adopt the correct economic strategies in the 70s, 80s and 90s, all the way to the present, thus forcing millions of Filipinos to seek employment overseas. Failure to end the long-running Maoist insurgency, which is a function of both the failure to enforce laws and the failure to adopt the correct economic strategies. But the biggest failure of all is the failure of our national leaders to articulate and propagate among the broad mass of the population a sense of national purpose that even the poorest of the poor can relate to. This has nothing to do with a poverty in treasure; it has all to with a poverty in credible and inspiring leadership. When Vietnam, then as now one of the poorest countries in this part of the world, was struggling for its survival and honor against foreign invaders much more powerful than it, its leaders, led by Ho Chi Minh, were able to inspire the broad mass of the population to fight back and triumph, against overwhelming odds, in the defense of their country. So, if I were asked what constitutes the biggest threat to our national security, I would not hesitate to say that it is poor governance on the part of our national leaders, including but not limited to President Arroyo. This is really the basis of our national insecurity, beside which a theoretical threat from the Jemaah Islamiyah and the present nuisance from a sputtering Maoist insurgency pale in comparison. A putative invasion from China or any other country is not even in the radar screen. And this threat to our national security cannot be neutralized by the mere expedience of hurriedly holding a constituent assembly to amend the constitution in order to give the incumbent a graceful exit from her disintegrating presidency. Such a rushed make-over will be merely cosmetic. Without a major, surgical operation that cleanses our political culture of its deep vein infirmity, the trapos and the political dynasties who control the present political system will control the new political system as well. So nothing substantial will really take place. So why bother making such superficial changes at all? What our body politic needs is a purgation, a peaceful and non-violent revolution similar to what took place in Eastern Europe in 1989, when millions of Poles, East Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks etc � including their intellectuals, their civil servants, their artists, their students, their workers, their housewives - literally walked out on their governments and forced their communist regimes to collapse�.with hardly a shot being fired in anger against anyone. ***** Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Our National Insecurity� Hilarious: "When Erap and his lackeys organize a Unity for Truth and Justice coalition, he really means, 'Get me out of here so that I can resume my sybaritic life of daily fornication, nightly intoxication and non-stop gambling fixation.'� Well, Mr. Abaya, what do you suggest? In my case, I wish these "progressive" groups will unite, forget about "correct political lines". In so doing, they can hopefully encourage the trapo groups to ponder the state of our national and international situation and their roles in it and how they can help improve the situation a little bit. Cesar Torres, [email protected] September 29, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony Another really good piece! My fear though is that too many (and certainly so many) Filipinos have, in effect, given up on the Philippines. And now see their personal and familial salvation elsewhere - either overseas or in the next life! And I agree it started (or made a quantum leap) with the Marcos regime. What I observed in Iloilo and picked up more generally, is that when in the early '70s Marcos and his cronies hijacked the economy lots of people simply stopped investing in local productive or commercial enterprises, fearing or knowing that any really profitable business, in one way or another, would be commandeered by Marcos and Company. That of course killed employment growth as well. Moreover it came shortly after the new US Immigration Act of 1965 which vastly increased opportunities for emigrating to the US. And it coincided precisely with the OPEC price increases which hurt lots of businesses everywhere, but also soon thereafter opened lots of temporary, but relatively high paying jobs, throughout the Middle East. The combination of these both push and pull factors encouraged ambitious many Filipinos to become, in effect, transnationalists. That is, to seek their futures and lives almost anywhere else in the world. And of course the regime even encouraged this. In the process, I think the Philippines became the first, even the "vanguard," "transnational society." Given that strident nationalism has historically caused so many wars and injustices, something of a transnational stance can be a good thing. In effect, it says "the whole world is my oyster, I can do (or at least survive) anything anywhere." On the other hand, some balance is necessary; some old fashioned nationalism is also essential if a society is to respond to its own social, political, economic, and cultural needs and opportunities. Unfortunately, I fear that for the reasons suggested, over the last 30 years, the balance in the Philippines - and for too many Filipinos - has tipped way over to the transnational. It�s going to take a great deal of work to tip the balance back again, to put the genie back in the bottle. The next step, and the really hard one, is figuring out who (or what) could, or even might, do it, and how. Any Suggestions/Ideas?? Even Plans??? David Szanton, [email protected] Durban, South Africa, September 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww How do you propose to solve our economic woes? Every presidential aspirant has been promising nirvana for the people but not delivering any results. In fact, when Cory became President, she promised the electorate that she will be better than Marcos. The economic performance of her administration was even worst than Marcos. Our GNP growth rate slid down from 6 per sent during the Marcos years to less than 3 person during the People's Power government. We are now importing 500,000 tons of rice whereas during the Marcos era we were self-sufficient in rice production. The only achievement of this People's Power government is saving us from the Marcos dictatorship and the People's Power government has been playing that theme for more than 20 years in spite of their poor performance. It appears that this People's Power government cannot resist the temptation of blaming all its woes on the previous regime it replaced � in spite of the fact that Marcos has long been dead. Commentaries on our political affairs also cannot resist the temptation of blaming someone for all our woes -- without presenting a viable solution. We are not going to get anywhere by blaming other people for our woes. Are we just going to keep on blaming our national ills on whoever becomes a scapegoat -- be this whoever sits in Malacanang or the previous Marcos administration -- or are we going to present a viable solution for our national ills? Ramon del Gallego, [email protected] September 29, 2005 MY REPLY. In 25 words or less, we would have to shelve Free Trade and Globalization and revive the manufacturing sector. I realize this would be easier said than done. But we can no longer hope to cash in on the export boom � we are at least one decade late � so we have to earn those additional GNP points in the domestic economy. I have a strategy for doing this, but it is premature to divulge it at this time. My 25 words are up. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Very good article! Just one comment - China invaded not only Tibet but also Vietnam in 1979 but was beaten back, according to the Vietnamese, or decided to withdraw (according to the Chinese). They did get across the mountain pass, in Lam Son province that serves as the border between China and Vietnam, and got to nearly 60 kilometers away from Hanoi before moving back. Regards. Ruy Y. Moreno, [email protected] September 29, 2005 MY REPLY. We are talking about the same event. I thought it happened in 1978. You write that it took place in 1979. The Chinese said they were out to teach the Vietnamese a lesson. So it was more of a punitive expedition, rather than an invasion to occupy a country. At any rate, the Vietnamese bloodied the Chinese� noses. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww God forbid. Hoping that war will not be the only solution to unite us. But history dictates that majority of nations started progressively after war with a firm leader setting a great example for his people Jun Pulido, [email protected] September 29, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Your article above ends with: "What our body politic needs is a purgation, a peaceful and non-violent revolution similar to what took place in Eastern Europe in 1989, when millions of Poles, East Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks etc � including their intellectuals, their civil servants, their artists, their students, their workers, their housewives - literally walked out on their governments and forced their communist regimes to collapse�.with hardly a shot being fired in anger against anyone.� ** My question is: Who took control of the "governing" tasks after the collapse of the regimes and were any preparatory steps taken by certain group(s) before the walkout? I read your articles as they are posted on the Blue_Genes (x-IBMers) yahoo discussion group. Do I have your permission to post your response to my question on this discussion group? Bert Peronilla, [email protected] September 29, 2005 MY REPLY. The collapse of the East German (Deustche Demoktratische Republik) government led to the reunification of the East with the West, under the West German (Bundesrepublik) government in 1990. In Poland, the opposition Solidarnoscz (Solidarity) labor federation, which had led anti-communist demonstrations during the Communist era, won majority of the seats in parliamentary elections in June 1990. In Hungary, parliament legalized freedom of assembly and dissolved the Communist Party in November 1989. In Czechoslovakia, millions demanded free elections and went on strike, forcing the communist government to resign in November 1989. In Bulgaria, the Communist dictator who had been in power for 35 years was forced to resign in November 1989, and the constitutionally guaranteed communist dominance in parliament was revoked in January 1990 and a new constitution was written. As far as I know, there were no preparatory steps taken by any group before the walkout. It was an unplanned, spontaneous, leaderless mass action, which caught fire because of widespread discontent due to poor living and working conditions in all affected countries. Only in Romania was there bloody confrontation between demonstrating citizens and communist government. The government lost. The communist dictator and his wife were captured and executed in public. Yes, permission is granted to post this response in your discussion group. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Again I must agree with your article today on Our National Insecurity. I agree that deeper than our failure to stop graft, or collect taxes, etc., our national leaders must be taken to task for their failure to lead us by their statesmanlike behavior, or inspire us by their principles. But I must add another point. For when we talk about statesmanship, or principles, or leading by example, we inevitably are led to talk about spiritual virtues of selflessness, of respect for authority, and fear of God, something so very obviously missing in the lives of our arrogant politicians. But who is to teach us about spiritual virtues? This, I believe, is the crucial mission point. Our spiritual leaders are so quick to point out to government officials their shortcomings on matters governmental. What amazes me is that no government official seems to recognize that the basic and fundamental reason that this country is the second most corrupt nation in Asia has to be traced, ultimately, to our immorality, a failure which is a failure of our spiritual leaders. For if we do not hold them accountable for our lack of a sense of morality, who then can be held accountable? The church must recognize its utter failure at a job which is without question its responsibility. The government failed at governance. The church on the spiritual health of its flock. Jose C. Valdes, [email protected] Baguio City, September 29, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony: I agree with you but I raise one point with three queries: who put "poor governance" in place? Who have made the other alternative politicians and officials the only pathetic options to leadership for the society? Is not the whole voting populace to blame; and the entire society guilty of venerating monsters instead of idealistic heroes? More power to you for getting to the heart of the matter where so many commentators are dancing around with petty issues and trivial personalities. God bless Alfredo �Ding� Roces, [email protected] Sydney, Australia, September 29, 2005 MY REPLY. If you want my honest answer to your three questions, Ding, I would say the biggest culprit is Media. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, I read you loud and clear: what we need is a peaceful, non-violent way for the whole society, rich and poor, young and old, government and private sector employees, educated, partly and non-educated, powerful and famous, weak and invisible; the solid masses of Filipinos who are fed up with mediocrity and greed in public service. the approach so far of the Bukluran and the Black and White are attempts to draw the apathetic to their side. This hasn't worked so far. The approach is to ask those who are up to their necks in seeing those in power stealing the country blind and no one lifts a finger, afraid of getting the ire of the almighty. When a General Gudani decides to make a clean break and tell the truth, what does his Chief of Staff and Commander in Chief do? No reward, all punishment. What distortions to our traditional moral values!!! At any rate, we still need faces trustworthy enough for the people to move. Jun Magsaysay, [email protected] Philippine Senate, September 29, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww You got that right bud except the part of the "no shot fired". Cite the EDSA Real Miracle of '86. Now that was a "no shot fired". But the real deal is Mama Mary who was the one that stopped the bullets from flying. There's still a lot of hope though. Chat you later! Rafael Santos II, [email protected] September 29, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (Copy furnished of email sent to nine egroups) "What our body politic needs is a purgation, a peaceful and non-violent revolution similar to what took place in Eastern Europe in 1989, when millions of Poles, East Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks etc � including their intellectuals, their civil servants, their artists, their students, their workers, their housewives - literally walked out on their governments and forced their communist regimes to collapse�.with hardly a shot being fired in anger against anyone." ***** Mr. A C Abaya is a renowned writer, author of my articles. I am not quite sure though, if this is the same Abaya who authored books. I need to emphasize this because his writings were borne of love of country; for how else this eloquence cometh and his vast knowledge shared, if not to lend us his intellectual bearings set as guide for our collective guidance. This essay on "Our national Insecurity" paints a digital picture of the ails and how damaged our culture has become, its trajectory honed to selfish culture; I, me, we, us, our group, our barrio, our province, our region, our language, long before it reaches our country. Our consciousness relegated our COUNTRY the last in our food chain of thought and love., LAST! Selfish culture if done correctly and positively will have a good and productive effect, that is self reliant. Rely on your self to plant vegetables on the vacant lots, raise chickens, goat, pigs on your spare times. Agree among yourselves, the we, us and our group to mount a program to benefit your neighborhood. Instead of reliance on government initiatives, just do it for self love. Instead of looking for employment, employ your self to produce handicraft, engage in fishing be a farmer, carpenter or woodworker; or be the buyer in your barrio of its produce and sell in the market place. Or organize a cooperative out of your drinking buddies to raise fund for a basket ball court, tennis court; and a center to train young boxers to produce another Pacqiao or Boom-boom Baustista. Our culture is so damaged that instead of self-reliant we rely heavy on government for source of income, for our livelihood. If government cannot provide jobs, we waited at the tuba store or corner store waiting for some one to give us drink, a piece of bread. Sometime we covet our neighbor's property, we steal them. An we just lie down, instead of going out applying for a work. When gone tired of resting, doing nothing we think of bending our kneesin supplication not to Gloria but to GOD. That is good if we really listen hard because after praying your brain open up to show a glimpse of opportunity, but this glimpse is un headed because it is not given on a silver platter. How pathetic we have become. Then we have people who engage in the business of politics literally.Election is the vehicle to become rich, when sitting in the position of power, even a lesser power; it is use to corruption, influence peddling and host to criminal syndicate. This is the kind of evil who does not accept losing in the election, they engage in trouble making, lies and innuendo, hire squatters to march and paid media to help convince the public to abide by their cause. These are our dirty linen exposed to public hoping that we who read them shall provide medicine to cure the ails of our society. Paul Dalde, [email protected] September 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The fall of the country lies upon the people, the common Filipinos who do not discipline themselves but depend on the government alone. Filipinos should be educated to work and be responsible, be sensible. They have to stop picketing on the streets and make a living to feed their family. They should realize that they cannot depend on the government alone. Like in the United States, we do not depend on the government to feed us. We have to work hard. In the Philippines, there are plenty of work if only people will try to find a decent job. The main problem in our poor families, the father is lazy to find a job in order to send their children to school to learn. That�s where laziness starts, from the parents and is followed by their children. Philippine politicians and government officials should stop their KURAKOT. Government employees should work to earn their salary. Most government employees and workers in our country are kurakot and lazy. They just collect their salary but don�t work at all. Will our country progress? No!!!! Not at all, not until all officials are totally out and new administration will start from scratch. If only Arroyo will clean up all government officials and appoint new officials, then I believe there will be a clean government. Or, a new president and new set of assigned government officials can regain our country once again. When? Only God knows. It would be a miracle. Genny Ferrer, [email protected] September 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, US would rather sleep with a devil they know than a saint they hardly knew. It is not worth wasting one's time to even consider Erap as a viable alternative to GMA. It is not viable! Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, [email protected] New York City, September 30, 2005 MY REPLY. But Erap is not a saint, and the Americans know that. They have known him before when he was president and he launched total war against the Muslims. Remember? Why else would they summon his chief lieutenant to Washington twice in four months? Why else would the US Embassy in Manila prepare a three-page profile of Erap for Washington, if they did not think he was a viable alternative? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. AC Abaya: I have read with great interest your article on "National Insecurity" shared to us by Boo Chanco. Please consider sending me your other essays like "Why are we poor?" and more. I will appreciate reading them. [email protected] September 30, 2005 MY REPLY. All my articles since 2002 are archived in www.tapatt.org. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, I appreciate your columns. Thank you very much. Keep them coming... Happy weekend. Korina Sanchez, [email protected] ABS-CBN, September 30, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Indeed the threat to our national security is poor governance by our leaders. But we should not only blame our leaders but we should also blame ourselves because it is us the people who put our leaders in their place. We cannot blame the masses alone by the way they think of how to elect leaders. All of us are to blame because in our system of politics, where each and every citizen's vote counts, it is the responsibility of those who have attained a higher degree of education to teach those whose levels are lower, on how to vote. Of course, even though how hard we try to teach those who belong to the lower income levels, their way of thinking is survival first. And by the way, as the saying goes, who can think on an empty stomach. Our mother country, The Philippines can never advance or progress in the way that we would like to see it become if we cannot get all our acts together. We should all have one focus, one direction in which to go as a people and this is where good governance comes in. We need a leader who can inspire not just one sector or sectors of society but one who inspires all sectors of society. Our leaders should put self-interest out of the way as well as having a debt of gratitude to pay to people who help put them in their places. But alas, is there such leader in the Philippines today? To change our present system of government now, I agree with your statement, will be just a cosmetic make-over. We really need a major, surgical operation of our political system but will the politicians who are presently in office be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice which would mean that they surrender their political and personal interests for the sake of national interest? What you suggested in the last paragraph, that what our body politic needs is a purgation, a peaceful and non-violent revolution is a valid point. But do you think, after seeing two People Power revolutions in our lifetime, and the results are just the same, the Filipino people will still be interested to stage another non-violent revolution? I don't think so. It is always the case in our Philippines politics that the administration and politicians change but the actions stay just the same regardless of the personalities involved. This is the reason why we should all just go about doing our businesses and never mind the politics for it will always be there. Do you think that if less attention will be given to the politicians by the media and by the people, that these politicians will suddenly get their acts together and do what would be for the common good? I certainly hope that there will be statesmen again in our political system and that we will have a national leader who can inspire all sectors of society. We had two such leaders who had their opportunities but did not grab the opportunity in leading the Philippines to better heights. These are the leaders who were installed into office after the People's Power revolutions (Cory Aquino and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) and who are now on opposite sides at present. Lastly, I think the major stumbling block in our progress is the obviously lack of continuity of government programs. A change in administration means a change in everything even though some things are already working fine and a review of everything that was done by the previous administration. If we are to progress, the only way is to be forward-looking and not review everything that was done previously. As the saying goes, what has been done is already done. We have to move on. Investors, specially international investors need to have that sense of security that there will be consistency in government policies and programs even if the personalities change. Robert Sanchez, [email protected] October 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I totally agree with your assessment on the state of our National Insecurity. However, I am afraid that we may not all agree on the methods or solutions to overcome these insecurities. This will be very contentious and divisive. For example, we may agree on the need for "a major, surgical operation that cleanses our political culture". Yet it may be unrealistic to expect this to happen without violence or pain. We must always be prepared for the worst. The Eastern European models you cite have a much longer history than we do and they have experienced tremendous strife and violence in the past. They are a more mature people who have learned hard lessons after centuries of armed conflict, subjugation, oppression, civil wars and genocide. We, on the other hand, still have much to learn. There is consensus that poverty is the most pressing problem we face today. Yet, we are divided on the ways to solve this. Your article correctly points out that we are poor because of bad leadership and governance, because of an abysmal track record of choosing the wrong policies and because of the absence of a national identity and common purpose. All of these, combined with massive corruption, have led to decades of mismanagement that sunk this country into enormous debt. At this stage, the national debt is the hulking symbol of poverty. It is the millstone that is tied around our neck and sinks us deeper into destitution. We had a golden opportunity to bargain for clemency many years ago, right after EDSA I, but the Cory Aquino government couldn't get its act together and bungled that once-in-a-lifetime chance. Cory and subsequent administrations continued going on a borrowing spree. They borrowed money to pay off interest and amortization on earlier loans. And they borrowed some more just to keep government operating. Now we are caught in a debt trap that consumes almost 90% of national revenue and, if left unchecked, will eventually paralyze most government services and programs. Despite unanimity on the crippling effects of debt, we still cannot agree on how to approach this problem. The Left wants outright debt repudiation. Bankers, like Ed Espiritu and Rafael Buenaventura, warn of dire consequences should we raise the hackles of the IMF. They recommend growing the economy out of debt, which may sound like cavalier advice. It is like telling a desperate person, whose family is dying from disease and starvation, to simply work his way out of his predicament. Bankers were never known for their soft hearts. Speaker Joe De Venecia has weighed in with his own debt-to-equity scheme. But his plan has been ridiculed by Leftists and bankers alike. So what is the country to do? Even simple problems like population growth get bogged down in debate, with the Catholic Church steadfastly opposing birth control and browbeating spineless politicians into shelving any effective population control programs. Is there anything we can agree on? Perhaps we should tackle problems one at a time and build consensus around the manner of solving these problems. For example, national debt is the most imminent threat to progress and stability. Perhaps we could prioritize this as the first in a long line of problems to solve. But we must have a clear and cohesive plan of action and we must collectively be ready to bear any of the pain that may ensue. Even if we feel that we have already suffered enough, there may be no escaping more economic pain in the future. If we can make progress on one problem, we can go on to another problem, step by step, one at a time. It may be a long and tedious process, but a nation's growth and maturity are measured by increments. As long as the increments are constant, no matter how small, there will ultimately be growth. I do not know what can bring us together as a country. EDSA I brought us together for one brief shining moment, but it soon vanished when the country realized that the dictator was replaced by opportunistic trapos, scheming ideologues, incompetent leaders and corrupt relatives. Not to mention a handful of military coup plotters who styled themselves as saviours of the Republic. Can we recreate EDSA I and seize the moment to regain our lost opportunities? Perhaps. After all, the French Revolution initially succumbed to the "Reign of Terror". But some years later, France rose to new heights under the strong leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte. Nothing is impossible and all is not lost. But whether we can regain our bearings "with hardly a shot being fired in anger against anyone" remains to be seen. I certainly hope so. No one would like to see the painful and bloody lessons that France and Eastern Europe went through replayed in our country. Carl Cid S.M. Inting, Cebu City, October 01, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I read this one with deep interest. It struck a conviction I've harbored long. I'd like to share with you something I wrote in trying to verbalize it. You will read that it responded to an earlier reference of Teddy Benigno to his "passion". You may not like to receive attachments, so I'm simply copying it below. MANUEL Q. LIM, JR., [email protected] October 01, 2005. ------------------------- 4 September 1999 Mr. David L. Arcenas Member of the Board Council on Philippine Affairs Dear Dave, During the COPA Board meeting two evenings ago I came home with the question, relative to Doring's call for "passion": what is this passion that we need? Whatever it is, it should be deep-rooted for it to move people, and for it to be constant. Even before we left the meeting I thought I already had the answer. Let me try it on you, and see if you agree. I submit that this passion is a burning sense of nationhood. 1. I once listened to Mrs. Aloma de los Reyes, a sociologist, describe the Filipino as being in the grip of what the sociologists call an Anomie, which in this case translates into an Identity Crisis. 2. Summarizing what she said, the "orig" was a Muslim, a pagan, or whatever, speaking in his own tongue and following his own laws and customs, when the Spaniards "discovered" and sought to "civilize" him. I will not judge Spaniards' success, but I support Dr, F, Jocano's contention that the country was already civilized even before this "discovery". 3. Very briefly, he showed the presence of science in the preservation of mummies under extremely humid conditions as against extremely dry Egypt, and in the crafting of bronze objects ahead of Europe; the evident presence of agriculture; the evident existence of communities; and religion in the worship of ancestors. 4. Mrs. De los Reyes believes that one of the critical results of these "civilizing" efforts was confusion. The native was no longer sure of his race, his customs, his religion, his country. This confusion was exacerbated when the Americans took over, fired by U.S. President W. McKinley's fervent prayer to "save" the Philippine "savages". The Japanese occupation did not help, particularly as it depleted much of the respect for life and the right to private property. To cap this demolition, Marcos destroyed much of what was left, such as honesty, equity and self-respect, irresistibly tempting some pseudo pundits to dub ours as a "damaged democracy." 5. This deterioration of moral values has led to the Anomie, or the failure to clearly distinguish right from wrong. It has reached so deep into the Filipino character as to stir an identify crisis: What is he? What is a Filipino? Aboriginal? Spanish? American? Survivor? This crisis has pushed the Filipino to look inwards, to himself, his children, his family, as the irreducible value, whose well-being is the ultimate and often the sole object of human enterprise. 6. In such a state the "Commons" loses significance. There is no longer any value in recognizing, respecting and preserving Commons for the future. Everything is for me and my family. Interpersonal relations become purely primary, which is to say exclusive regard for self and immediate family.. Secondary relationships, or regard for others, are at best tolerated, or simply practiced to ward off the law. Some every day examples of this state are: � Dynamite fishing � Illegal logging � Blue, green and brown pollution � Traffic jams from lane grabbing or similar self-centeredness 7. One may even ascribe drug addiction to this abandonment of the Commons which curses future generations, tax evasion which deprives the state of legitimate income, and other similar violations of the Common Law. But what it does, with deepest and most extensive damage, is to make the Filipino lose his sense of nationhood. . I believe that the sustainable passion is the sense of nationhood. The late Chino Roces used to say that the home is the last Filipino stronghold. You may be able to threaten everything with impunity, but when his home is placed at risk he will fight with everything he has. You may call it a passion. I remember how fervently he supported the low-cost SSS Village housing project in Marikina where I was involved. But we have to go beyond that passion, for that is still basically a primary kind of relationship. We can see that firing up the early rebellions against the Spaniards. It moved closer to the secondary in the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine American War ("Insurrection" in American history books! I wonder if they will allow their war of independence from Britain to be called an "insurrection".). We can also see the same passion in the guerilla resistance movement and recently in the so-called EDSA Revolution (actually it was waged in polling places all over the country). But that passion was not sustainable. In fact, the most recent manifestation of this passion was followed by shameful reversals, particularly the return of "traditional" politics, of "cronyism" and of the Marcoses themselves. I again submit that the sense of nationhood is the sustainable passion we are looking for, that it will provide both the impetus (using its meaning in physics) to precipitate the momentum to keep it going. In a nutshell, the "nation" would be the larger community of family/barangay/municipal/provincial/regional communities, which suggests a progression from the primary family to secondary national relationships. That progression supplies the impetus. The building, improvement and maintenance/defense provides the momentum. This describes the movement - towards nation-building-loving. This is a very prosaic statement of a highly personal, sublime and consuming task. It could provide the underlying direction for COPA. NOTE: The above letter was written as a reaction to two items raised during the meeting of the Council on Philippine Affairs held on 2 September. These two items were: 1. There is a need to set up a party in order to carry the movement. Without the party there can neither be strength nor continuity. 2. A movement needs passion to bring it to life. |
| wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I looked at the people behind TAPATT Foundation Inc and saw hope. Hope because you assembled people with mental substance and unquestionable integrity. Hope because that is the only thing that holds dear, a connection for a better tomorrow. Our country is teeming with people, people who walks in the halls of leadership.They had their times so does TAPATT, a foundation of transparency and public accountability today and tomorrow. People with self-interest who avidly seek power, to solidify and concentrate, bending the laws to amass wealth for the family, cousins and relatives, pure unadulterated greed. We have campuses that produces and developed brain to take future leadership but are instead trained to march to glorify chaos whose past times are planning for another EDSA. We have growing colony of squatters surrounded by vacant lots, untilled lands remained untouched by industrious hands to make them productive. We have political leaders who promised the whole world just to be elected, then at the seat of power they gained the whole world for themselves. The country is producing people, teeming people who cannot work, who have no initiative to make their lives productive. There are all kinds of laws promulgated, passed that supposed to punish the criminals, guide the ways toward becoming a better citizen. The police will not implement the law, the government do not have the heart to implement it, we have a weak judiciary because it is populated by men of shady characters whose power is used only to interfere with contracts for capital project needed to run the engine of commerce, to sustain the cycle of progress. We have men of letters, whose mental acumen can compete at par with the best in the world, hampered by the incessant politics, where corruption is grand. Distinguished men such as the pillar of TAPATT wasted on the side, whose voices are muted by the tumult of the times. Then we have Tony Abaya, there is hope! Paul Dalde, [email protected] Houston, Texas, October 05, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Good morning, Sir. I'm John Ponsaran of UP. I read your article about some members of the civil society who can serve the revolutionary government as its leader. It was very insightful and informative. Sir, may I know your comment/reaction about the following people who came to my mind as I go through your article regarding their capacity to head the transition government. -Atty. Romeo Capulong -Prof. Francisco Nemenzo -Prof. Edberto Villegas -Prof. Randy David -Atty. Chistian Monsod -Prof. Roland Simbulan Salamat po ng marami! John Ponsaran, [email protected] October 05, 2005 MY REPLY. Except for Christian Monsod, the persons you listed are communists or communist sympathizers. If you want to live in a Maoist-Communist society ruled by a Maoist-Communist government, then you should welcome them into a transition government. But since I do not want to live in a Maoist-Communist society ruled by a Maoist-Communist government, I would not want them, except Monsod, to be part of any transition government. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Antonio C. Abaya: Thank you for promising to publish the views of the readers of your column and website. May I make a suggestion? I hope you would include a search engine in your website so that visitors in your website could easily locate topics in your website or any kind of information that they are looking for. A search engine is available in FrontPage as well as other editors of websites. A search engine could also be downloaded from the Internet and uploaded to your website. You got a lot of informative topics in your website which researchers may wish to read. Thank you very much for your responsiveness. Ramon A. del Gallego, [email protected] October 05, 2005 MY REPLY. Your suggestion has been passed on to our webmaster and will be taken up in the near future. Thank you. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |